go encourage them to abroad to attack others, which, in the end, would only bring ruin and deftruction upon themselves and all their undertakings: I referved the floop, therefore, and the guns, for their service another way, as I fhall obferve in its place. I have now done with the island: I left them all in good circumstances, and in a flourishing condition, and went on board my fhip again the fifth day of May, having been five-and-twenty days among them; and, as they were all refolved to stay upon the island till I came to remove them, I promised to fend fome further relief from the Brafils, if I could poffibly find an opportunity; and particularly I promised to fend them fome cattle; fuch as fheep, hogs, and cows; for as to the two cows and calves which I brought from England, we had been obliged, by the length of our voyage, to kill them at sea, for want of hay to feed them. The next day, giving them a falute of five guns at parting, we fet fail, and arrived at the bay of All Saints, in the Brafils, in about twenty-two days; meeting nothing remarkable in our paffage but this, That about three days after we failed, being becalmed, and the current fetting ftrong to the N. N. E. running, as it were, into a bay or gulph, on the landfide, we were driven fomething out of our course; and once or twice our men cried Land, to the weftward; but whether it was the continent, or islands, we could not tell by any means. But the third day, towards evening, the fea smooth and the weather calm, we saw the fea, as it were, covered, towards the land, with fomething very black, black, not being able to discover what it was; but, after some time, our chief mate going up the main shrouds a little way, and looking at them with a perspective, cried out, it was an army. I could not imagine what he meant by an army, and spoke a little haftily, calling the fellow a fool, or some fuch word; Nay, Sir, fays he, don't be angry, for it is an army, and a fleet too; for I believe there are a thousand canoes, and you may' fee them paddle along, and they are coming towards us too apace, and full of men. I was a little furprised then, indeed, and fo was my nephew the captain; for he had heard fuch terrible ftories of them in the island, and having never been in those feas before, that he could not tell what to think of it, but faid two or three times, we should all be devoured. I must confefs, confidering we were becalmed, and the current set strong towards the fhore, I liked it the worfe; however, I bade him not be afraid, but bring the ship to an anchor, as foon as we came fo near as to know that we muft engage them. The weather continued calm, and they came on apace towards us; fo I gave orders to come to an anchor, and furl all our fails. As for the favages, I told them they had nothing to fear from them but fire; and therefore they should get their boats out, and fasten them, one close by the head, and the other by the stern, and man them both well, and wait the issue in that posture: this I did, that the men in the boats might be ready, with fheet and buckets, to put out out any fire thefe favages might endeavour to fix the outfide of the fhip. upon In this pofture we lay by for them, and in a little while they came up with us, but never was fuch a horrid fight feen by Christians: My mate was much mistaken in his calculation of their number, I mean of a thoufand canoes; the moft we could make of them when they came up, being about 126; and a great many of them too; for fome of them had fixteen or feventeen men in them, fome more, and the leaft fix or seven. When they came nearer to us, they seemed to be ftruck with wonder and astonishment, as at a fight which they had, doubtlefs, never feen before; nor could they, at first, as we afterwards understood, know what to make of us. They came boldly up however, very near to us, and seemed to go about to row round us; but we called to our men in the boats, not to let them come too near them. This very order brought us to an engagement with them, without our defigning it; for five or fix of their large canoes came fo near our long-boat, that our men beckoned with their hands to them to keep back; which they understood very well, and went back; but at their retreat about 500 arrows came on board us from those boats; and one of our men in the long-boat was very much wounded. However, I called to them not to fire by any means; but we handed down fome deal boards into the boat, and the carpenter presently set up a kind of a fence, like wafte boards, to cover them from the arrows of the favages, if they should shoot again, About About half an hour afterwards they came all up in a body aftern of us, and pretty near, fo near that we could easily discern what they were, though we could not tell their defign. I eafily found they were fome of my old friends, the fame fort of favages that I had been used to engage with; and in a little time more they rowed fomewhat farther out to fea, till they came directly broadfide with us, and then rowed down ftraight upon us, till they came fo near, that they could hear us fpeak: Upon this, I ordered all my men to keep clofe, left they should shoot any more arrows, and make all our guns ready; but being so near as to be within hearing, I made Friday go out upon the deck, and call out aloud to them in his language, to know what they meant; which accordingly he did: whether they understood him or not, that I know not; but, as foon as he had called to them, fix of them, who were in the foremoft, or nighest boat to us, turned their canoes from us; and, ftooping down, fhewed us their naked backfides; just as if, in English, (faving your prefence) they had bid us kifs Whether this was a defiance or challenge, we know not; or whether it was done in mere contempt, or a fignal to the reft; but immediately Friday cried out, They were going to shoot; and unhappily for him (poor fellow) they let fly about 300 of their arrows; and, to my inexpreffible grief, killed poor Friday, no other man being in their fight. The poor fellow was fhot with no less than three arrows, and about three more fell very nigh him; fuch unlucky marksmen they were! I was fo enraged with the lofs of my old fervant, the companion of all my forrows and folitudes, that I immediately ordered five guns to be loaded with fmall fhot, and four with. great; and gave them fuch a broadfide as they had never had in their lives before, to be fure. They were not above half a cable's length off when we fired; and our gunners took their aim fo well, that three or four of their canoes were overfet, as we had reason to believe, by one shot only. The ill manners of turning up their bare backfides to us, gave us no great offence; neither did I know for certain whether that, which would pass for the greatest contempt among us, might be understood fo by them or not; therefore in return, I had only refolved to have fired four or five guns with powder only, which I knew would fright them fufficiently: but when they fhot at us directly with all the fury they were capable of, and especially as they had killed my poor Friday, whom I fo entirely loved and valued, and who, indeed, fo well deferved it; I not only had been juftified before God and man, but would have been very glad, if I could, to have overfet every canoe there, and drowned every one of them. I can neither tell how many we killed, or how many, we wounded, at this broadfide; but fure fuch a fright and hurry never was feen among fuch a multitude: there were thirteen or fourteen of their canoes fplit, and overfet, in all; and the men all fet a fwimming; the rest, frighted out of their wits, fcoured away as faft as they could, taking but little care to fave those whose boats were split or spoiled with our fhot fo I fuppofe that they were many of them 1 |